Mechanism for automatically producing prefolded diapers



Sept. 20, 1966 G. T. GORE ETAL 3,273,522

MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATICALLY PRODUCING PREFOLDED DIAPERS Filed Aug. 24, 1964 8 Sheets-Sheet l 5 59x1 g 15 5 l6 0 STA TmN 14 gamma 8 STATION i SUPPLY STATION INVENTORS'. Fl GRAVE-ST GORE,

l9- ALBERT b. MARTM and NORMAN 5M\TH ATTORNEYS) p 20, 1966 ca. T. GORE ETAL 3,273,522

MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATICALLY PRODUCING PREFOLDED DIAPERS Filed Aug. 24, 1964 8 Sheets-Sheet 2 Sept. 20, 1966 G. T. GORE ETAL MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATICALLY PRODUCING PREFOLDED DIAPERS 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Aug. 24, 1964 Sept. 20, 1966 T, GORE ETAL 3,273,522

MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATICALLY PRODUCING PREFOLDED DIAPERS Filed Aug. 24, 1964 8 Sheets-Sheet 4 Sept. 20, 1966 G ETAL 5,273,522

MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATICALLY PRODUCING PREFOLDED DIAPERS Filed Aug. 24, 1964 8 Sheets$heet 5 Sept. 20, 1966 G. T. GORE ETAL MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATICALLY PRODUCING PREFOLDED DIAPERS 8 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed Aug. 24, 1964 INVENTORS s m MW 5 m 7 H %WW I? A O MM 6 r vma s A E W VE A5 2 L O I G 7 m G. T. GORE ETAL 3,273,522

8 Sheets-5heet 7 SM \T H ATTORNEYS b. MARTIN and q pf M w m N w 5 m w [8 6 bani? z w V D D M n. D g iii IF M G RAVES T. GozE, ALBERT BY MAZM Sept. 20, 1966 MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATICALLY PRODUCING PREFOLDED DIAPERS Filed Aug. 24, 1964 Sept. 20, 19 6 G. T. GORE ETAL MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATICALLY PRODUCING PREFOLDED DIAPERS Filed Aug. 24, 1964 8 Sheets-Sheet 8 u s: III- I w d O m .N M w 2 M GM$ RN ,DTA E2 VEM AB 2L0 Q BY fis l lgalwv g/m ATTORNEYS 'removal by an operator.

United States Patent 3,273,522 MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATICALLY PRODUC- ING PREFOLDED DIAPERS Graves T. Gore and Albert D. Martin, Ware Shoals, and Norman Smith, Greenwood, S.C., assignors to Riegel Textile Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Filed Aug. 24, 1964, Ser. No. 391,691

9 Claims. (Cl. 1122) This invention relates to a mechanism for automatically producing prefolded diapers and more particularly to a mechanism for automatically forming prefolded diapers from an open width, continous web of diaper material.

In order to provide better diapering, handling and laundering by consumers and diaper services, diapers are often folded and sewn or otherwise secured in the folded position by the diaper manufacturers to provide a prefolded diaper pad which is ready for use.

In the prior manufacture of prefolded diapers, it was necessary to carry out a series of steps by a series of separate operators, either manually or with separate machines, This necessarily involed a large number of operators, time consumption, inefliciency, and costliness. 'Another disadvantage of this type of manufacture was the amount of space necessary to hold these separate operators and machines. Also, the human element involved in these seperate operations by seperate operators produced a tendency toward nonunifomity in the finished products.

It is therefor an object of this invention to provide a mechanism and method for automatically carrying out the various steps in the manufacturing of prefolded diapers which will eliminate the various operators, cut down on time consumption, increase efliciency, reduce cost, conserve space and increase uniformity in the finished product.

In accordance with this invention a mechanism is provided whereby a continuous, open width web of diaper material is fed from a supply roll. The continuous web is automatically folded in the desired prefold. The folded continuous web is then led through a sewing station where longitudinal lines of stitching are inserted adjacent to the fold lines in the folded material. The folded and sewn diaper material is then led forward through the machine to a cutting station where the material is cut transversely into individually cut pieces of predetermined lengths. The thus formed prefolded and sewn diapers are then moved into a stacking station where the diapers are stacked into stacks of a predetermined number for This mechanism makes it possible to automatically produce a prefolded diaper without the necessity of utilizing individual operators to preform the various steps necessary to form this product.

Further features of the invention will be understood from a consideration of the following more detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of the mechanism of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of a prefolded diaper produced by the mechanism of this invention;

FIGURES 3 and 3a are top plan views of the mechanism of this invention and are continuations of each other;

FIGURE 4 is a view taken substantially along the line 4-4 of FIGURE 3 and illustrates the cutting means of the mechanism;

FIGURE 5 is a view taken substantially along the line 5-5 of FIGURE 4 and illustrates the cam for op erating the stacking means;

FIGURE 6 is a view taken substantially along the line 66 of FIGURE 4 and illustrates one of the cams for operating the cutting means;

FIGURE 7 is a view taken substantially along the line 7-7 of FIGURE 4 and illustrates another cam for operating the cutting means;

FIGURE 8 is a view taken substantially along the line 8-8 of FIGURE 4 and illustrates apparatus in the sewing station, cutting station and stacking station of the mechanism;

FIGURE 9 is a view taken substantially along the line 9-9 of FIGURES 3 and 3a and illustrates the stop motion apparatus contained in the sewing station of the mechanism;

FIGURES l0 and 10a are views taken substantially along the line 10 and 10a of FIGURE 1 and illustrate the folding station of the mechanism and are continuations of each other;

FIGURE 11 is a view taken substantially along the line 11-11 of FIGURE 4 and illustrates the cutting means of the mechanism; and

FIGURE 12 is a View taken substantially along the line 1212 of FIGURE 3a and illustrates the stop motion apparatus contained in the supply station of the mechanism.

Referring now to the drawings, it may be seen in FIGURE 1 that the mechanism for automatically producing prefolded diapers comprises a stationary frame 10, a supply means or station 11 carried by the frame 10 for supplying an open width continuous web of diaper material 12, folding means or station 13 carried by the frame 10 and disposed adjacent the supply means 11 for folding the traveling continuous web of diaper material 12 in the desired prefold, securing means or station 14 carried by the frame 10 and disposed adjacent the folding means 13 for securing the traveling folded continuous web of diaper material 12 in the desired prefolded condition, cutting means or station 15 carried by the frame 10 and disposed adjacent the securing means 14 for transversely cutting the traveling folded and secured continuous web of diaper material 12 into individual diapers 17 of a predetermined length, and a stacking means or station 16 carried by the frame 10 and disposed adjacent the cutting means 15 and adapted to receive and stack the individually cut prefolded and secured diapers 17.

As may be seen in FIGURES 1, 3 a and 12, the open width continuous web of diaper material 12 is fed to the mechanism from a supply roll 18. The supply roll 18 is supported on a part of the stationary frame 10 and on a feed roll 19. The continuous web of diaper material 12 is fed from the supply roll 18 around feed roll 19 and around guide rolls 20, 21,. 22, 23 to the folding means or station 13 of the mechanism. The guide rolls 20, 21, 22 and 23 are carried by the stationary machine frame 10, as shown in FIGURES 1 and 12.

The feed roll 19 is rotatably carried in bearings 24 secured to the stationary frame 10 and is driven by a chain 25 and sprocket 26 secured to the shaft 27 of the feed roll 19. The chain 25 is driven by a sprocket 28 carried on one end of a shaft 30 which is disposed in bearings 31 mounted on the machine frame 10. The other end of the shaft 30 has a gear 32 secured thereto which meshes with and is driven by a gear 33 carried on a stud shaft 34 secured in a bearing 35 mounted on the machine frame 10. The gear 33 is driven by a chain 36 and sprocket 37 mounted on the other end of stud shaft 34. The chain 36 is also supported and driven by a sprocket 38 on a speed reduction unit 40. The speed reduction unit 40, as may be seen in FIGURES 1 and 8, is driven by a right angle drive 41 which is in turn driven by belt 42 from the motor 43. Thus it may be seen, that the feed roll 19 is continuously driven by the motor 43 through right angle drive 41, through speed reduction gear 40, through chain 36, through gears 32, 33 and through chain and sprockets 26 and 28.

A stop motion means, general-1y referred to by the reference numeral 44, is disposed within the web supply station. This stop motion means 44 comprises a supply roll actuating lever 45 pivoted to the stationary frame at 46 and extending into the path of travel of the end of the supply roll 18. A rod 47 has one end thereof connected to the lever 45 and the other end thereof passes through a sleeve 50 of a switch actuating lever 51. The switch actuating lever 51 is also pivoted to the stationary machine frame at 52. A spring 53 is disposed around the end of rod 47 which extends through the sleeve 50 and extends between the sleeve 50 and a retaining bolt 54 on the end of rod 47. The free end of lever 51 is in contact with an electrical switch 55 which is carried by the stationary frame 10 and is electrically connected to the motor 43 of the mechanism to stop operation of the motor when the switch is actuated.

In operation, as the supply roll 18 is being used up and reducing in diameter the end thereof or shaft upon which the material is wound is moving closer to the lever 45. When the material on the supply roll 18 is exhausted the end of the supply roll will contact the lever 45 and push the lever 45 downwardly, as viewed in FIGURES 1 and 12, which will pull the rod 47 downwardly to pivot the lever 51 against the switch 55 to actuate the switch 55 and thereby stop operation of the motor 43 to stop operation of the mechanism. This stop motion provides a convenient means for stopping operation of the diaper producing mechanism when the supply roll has been exhausted and thus eliminates constant observation of the mechanism by an operator. When a new supply roll is furnished to the mechanism the above described stop motion 44 will resume its nonactuated position, illustrated in FIGURES l and 12, by the action of spring 53. It is also noted that the stop motion means 44 may be manually operated, if desired, by merely depressing the lever 51 against the switch 55.

Following the web supply means or station 11 the open width continuous web of material 12 is led to the folding means or folding station 13. As may be seen in FIG- URES 1, 3a, 10 and 10a, the web 12 is fed from roller 23 forward through the mechanism by feed rolls 56 and 57. Feed roll 57 is an idler 'roll carried in bearings 60 and 61 adjustably mounted on the stationary machine frame 10. Adjustment mechanisms 62 and 63 are provided for moving feed roll 57 toward and away from feed roll 56 to insure the proper pressure between fed rolls 56 and 57 for feeding the web 12. The feed roll 56 is mounted in bearings 64 and 65 on the stationary machine frame 10. As may be seen in FIGURE 10a, the feed roll 56 is driven by a sprocket 66 and chain 67. The chain 67 is driven by a sprocket 68 fixed to the shaft 30. The shaft is driven from the machine motor 43 in the manner described above.

The folding means 13 further includes folding swords secured to a vertically extending port-ion of the stationary machine frame 10. The folding swords are spaced from each other vertically and are arranged to fold the open width continuous web of material 12 into the desired prefolded condition. The folding swords include a first pair of short swords 70 and 71 secured to the ends of a pair of rods 72 and 73, respectively. The rods 72 and 73 are downwardly extending in the vertical direction and are secured to the ends of a second pair of longer swords 74 and 75, respectively. The swords 74 and 75 are mounted on the stationary machine frame 10. As may be seen in FIGURES 10 and 10a, the rods 72 and 73 are also secured to the ends of a third pair of longer swords 76 and 77, respectively which are secured to the stationary machine frame 10. The three pairs of folding swords 70, 71 and 76, 77 and 74, 75 are spaced vertically from each other and along the direction of travel of the web 12 as it travels in a vertical plane in the folding station 13;

In operation, the open width continuous web of diaper material 12 is threaded between the folding swords 70, 71, '74, 75, 76 and 77 and the folding rods 72 and 73, in the manner illustrated in FIGURES l0 and 10a. The web 12 is pulled through these folding swords and folding rods by feed rolls 56 and 57, in the manner described above, and the open width continuous web of diaper material 12 is folded in the desired prefolded condition, illustrated in those figures and shown in the finished diaper of FIG- URE 2.

Also included within the folding means or station 13, are two pairs of guide rolls 80 and 81 mounted on the stationary frame 10, which perform in the conventional manner to insure that the web 12 is traveling in a straight path. The folding means or station 13 further includes a fabric covered guide roll 82 carried by the stationary machine frame 10 and adapted to transform the path of travel of the folded web 12 from a vertical to a horizontal path, as may be seen in FIGURE 1. The guide roll 82 is covered with fabric to prevent slippage of the folded web 12 and possible unfolding of the web from its prefolded condition.

From the folding means or station 13 the folded continuous web of diaper material 12 is fed to the securing means or station 14 of the mechanism. The securing means or station 14 includes a pair of sewing machines 84, 85 mounted on the stationary frame 10 and adapted to apply longitudinal lines of stitching 86, 87 along the fold lines of the web 12 to secure the web 12 in the prefolded condition. The prefolded web 12 is led from the guide roll 82 along a pair of horizontally disposed and vertically spaced guide plates 89 and 90 to the sewing machines 84 and 85.

As may be seen in FIGURE 9, the prefolded web 12 is threaded through the plates 89 and 90 in such a manner that the fold is preserved in the web as it is led to the sewing machines 84 and 85. The plates 89 and 90 have forwardly extending portions 89a and 90a resting on the bed plates 84a and 85a of the sewing machines.

The prefolded web 12 is fed through the securing means or station 14 by the conventional feed dogs of the sewing machines 84 and 85 and by fluted feed rolls 91 and 92. The feed roll 92 includes a shaft 93 which is driven by a sprocket 94 secured to one end thereof and by chain 95 which is driven by a sprocket 96 secured to the shaft of the speed reduction gear 40. The speed reduction gear 40 is driven in the manner described hereinbefore. The feed roll 91 includes a shaft 97 which has a gear 98 secured to one end thereof which meshes with a gear 99 on the other end of feed roll shaft 93 so that feed roll 92 is driven by feed roll 91.

The feed roll 91 includes adjustment mechanisms, generally referred to by reference numeral 100, by which the feed roll 91 may be adjusted toward and away from feed roll 92 to insure the proper feeding of the folded web 12.

The sewing machines 84 and 85 are driven directly from the motor 43 by pulleys 101 and 102 secured to the main drive shafts 103 and 104 of the sewing machines 84 and 85, respectively. The pulley 101 is driven by belt 105 which is driven by pulley 106 secured to one end of an idler shaft 107. The idler shaft 107 is carried by a pair of bearings 108 secured to the stationary machine frame 10. The pulley 106 is driven by a belt 109 which is driven by a pulley 119 secured to the main shaft of the motor 43. The sewing machine 85 has a similar arrangement of a belt 119 driving pulley 102 which i driven by a pulley 120 on the other end of idler shaft 107. It is noted that the sewing machines 84 and 85 are driven directly from the mechanism motor 43 rather than the speed reduction gear 40 inasmuch as it is necessary to rotate the main shafts of the sewing machines at a higher rate of speed than the travel of the web 12.

The securing means or station 14 further includes a stop motion means, generally indicated by the reference numeral 110. The stop motion means 110 comprises a pair of generally L-shaped levers 111 and 112 pivoted to the guide plate 89 and 99, respectively, at 113 and 114, respectively. The levers 111 and 112 are generally disposed in the longitudinal direction of the path of travel of the folded web 12 and extend generally outwardly at the forward ends thereof.

The lever 111 is pivoted midway thereof to one end of a lever 115 which extends transversely of the path of travel of the folded web 12 and is slidably held in position by a bracket 116 mounted on the guide plate 89. The other end of the lever 115 is connected to a compression spring 117 which in turn is connected to a bracket 118 mounted on the stationary machine frame 10. The switch 121 is electrically connected to the motor 43 of the mechanism and is adapted to stop operation of the motor and the mechanism when the switch is actuated.

Similarly, the lever 112 is pivoted midway thereof, to one of a lever 122 which extends transversely of the ath of travel of the folded web 12 and is slidably held in position by a bracket 123 mounted on the guide plate 911. The other end of the lever 122 is connected to a compression spring 124 which is connected to a bracket 125 mounted on the stationary frame 10. The lever 122 also has a switch actuating cam disposed on the underside thereof (not shown) which is adapted to contact and actuate a switch 126 which is mounted on the stationary frame 19 and is electrically connected to the mechanism motor 43 to stop operation of the motor when the switch is actuated. Thus, it may be seen that the levers 111 and 112 are spring biased outwardly in the transverse direction of travel of the folded web 12 by the springs 117 and 124.

In operation, the forward outwardly extending ends of the levers 111 and 112 are adapted to contact and ride against the lines of stitching inserted in the folded web 12 by the sewing machines 84 and 85 inasmuch as the forward ends of these levers are generally outwardly extending in the transverse direction of travel of the web 12 and extend forwardly of the stitching instrumentalities of the sewing machines 84 and S5 and are spring biased by springs 117 and 124 into contact with the line of stitching. If one or both of the lines of stitching have been broken, such as by a breakage of thread in the sewing machines etc., one or both of the levers 111 and 112 will move outwardly in the transverse direction of the path of travel of the Web 12 since the line or lines of stitching will not be present to hold the levers 111 and 112 against the bias of springs 117 and 124. When this occurs, one or both of the levers 111, 112 will move outwardly under the action of these springs which will also move one or both of the levers 115, 122 outwardly to cause one or both of the switch actuating cams to actuate one or both of the switches 121, 126 to stop operation of the mechanism. Thus, it may be seen that if for some reason the lines of stitching being produced by the sewing machines 84, 85

are broken or otherwise discontinued, the stop motion means 110 will stop operation of the mechanism so that the malfunction may be corrected. This also eliminates constant observation by an operator of the lines of stitching being inserted in the folded diaper web 12.

Following the securing of the folded web of diaper material 12 in the securing station 14, the folded and secured continuous web of material 12 is led forward through the cutting means or station of the mechanism. The cutting means 15 comprises a guillotine type cutting mechanism including a blade 130 having one end thereof carried by a bearing 131 mounted on the stationary frame 10. The blade 130 cooperates with the corner of an angle bracket 132 secured to the stationary frame 10 to effect intermittent'cutting of the folded end secured web 12.

The other end of the blade 130 has a slot 133 therein.

For actuating the cutter means to move the blade 130 into contact with the prefolded and secured web 12, there is provided a tubular member 134 which has a stud 135 secured thereto and extending into the slot 133 for intermittently moving the blade 130. The tubular member 134 extends through an aperture in the bracket 132 and through an aperture in another bracket 139, as may be seen in FIGURE 11. The brackets 132 and 139 provide bearing surfaces to allow the tubular member 134 to move relatively thereto.

Disposed within the tubular member 134 is a downwardly extending rod 136 which extends below the lower end of the tubular member 134. A. tension spring 137 is also disposed within the tubular member 134 and surrounds rod 136 and bears against a retaining bolt 138 on the upper end of rod 136 and against the lower end of tubular member 134, as may be seen in FIGURE 11.

The lower end of the rod 138 is connected to an enlarged end of a second rod 140 which is also downwardly extending, as viewed in FIGURE 11, and extends through an aperture in the stationary frame 10 which serves as a bearing surface for the rod 140. A second spring 141 is disposed around the rod 140 and bears against the stationary frame 10 and the enlarged upper end portion of the rod 140 to bias the rod 140 and rod 136 in the upward direction.

One end of a crank arm 142 is pivotally connected to the enlarged end of rod 140 and has a crank pin 143 disposed on the other end thereof. The crank pin 143 is eccentrically mounted on a crank plate 144 which is rotatably mounted in bearings on one end of a shaft 145 which is rotatably mounted'in bearings 146, 147 on the stationary frame 10. The crank plate 144 is freely rotatable on shaft 145 and includes a lug 149 for rotating the crank plate, as described hereinafter. The shaft 145 is driven by a sprocket 148 mounted on one end thereof and a chain 150 which is driven by a sprocket 151 mounted on the shaft 93. The shaft 93 is driven in the manner described above.

The actuating means for the cutting blade 30 further comprises a latch member 155 attached to one end of a first lever 156. The lever 156 is fixedly secured to a second lever 157 by a connecting member 158, as shown in FIGURES 4 and 11. The connecting member 158 is pivoted to the stationary frame 10 at 160 and it may be seen that the levers 156, 157, connecting member 158 and latch member 159 will move as a unit about pivot point 160. On the free end of lever 157 there is disposed a cam follower 161 which is spring biased into engagement with a cam 162 by a spring 163, attached to the lever 157 and the stationary frame 10, as may be seen in FIGURES 6 and 11. The cam 162 is rotatably carried by and keyed on the shaft 145, which is driven in the manner described above. The latch member 155 is resting on one arm of the bracket 132 and, as shown in FIGURE 11, is in latching engagement with the tubular member 134. The cam 162 includes an adjustable lug 164 mounted thereon by and adjustment screw 166 and adapted to contact lug 149 on crank plate 144 for rotating the crank plate.

In operation, the cutting means is biased into the raised or non-cutting position, illustrated in FIGURE 4, by the spring 141. The crank plate 144 and cam 162 are in the positions, illustrated in FIGURES 6 and 7, when the cutter blade 130 is in the raised position of FIGURE 4. Since the shaft 145 and cam 162 are continually rotating, the crank plate 144 will be rotated by the contact of lug 164 with lug 149 in the direction of the arrow, indicated in FIGURE 7, which will act as a crank to lower lever 142 by the connection of eccentrically mounted crank pin 143. This lowering of lever 142 will in turn lower rods 136 and 140 against the bias of spring 141. Since the spring 136 extends between the retaining bolt 138 and the lower end of tubular member 134, the lowering of rod 136 would normally carry the tubular member 134 therewith. However, since the latch 155 is in engagement with the tubular member 134, the tubular member 134 cannot be lowered with the rod 136. Therefore, the lowering of the rod 136 is against the bias of spring 137 and will load spring 137 against tubular member 134. When the crank pin 143 has lowered the rods 140 and 136 to their lowermost positions which fully loads spring 136, the cam follower 161 on lever 157 will drop into detent 165 on cam 162. This movement of cam follower 161 into detent 165 will pivot levers 157, 156 and connecting member 158 about pivot point 160 to thereby move latch member 155 out of engagement with the tubular member 134. When this occurs, the member 134 will move rapidly downward under the action of loaded spring 136 to carry with it the cutting blade 130 to effect cutting of the prefolded and secured continuous web of diaper material 12. As crank pin 143 passes bottom dead center, crank plate 144 rotates forward under the action of load ed spring 141. This raises all the movable cutting components to the upper positions. This occurs very rapidly under the action of spring 141. At this' point crank plate 144 remains stationary with pin 143 at top position until lu-g 164 on cam 162 again communicates with lug 149 on crank plate 144. While the cutter mechanism is held in the upper position by spring 141, cam 162 engages latch 155 into tubular member 135. The cutter mechanism is now ready for the next cycle. The lug 164 on cam 162 is in timed relation with detent 165. The adjustment screw 166 effects the proper timed relation of the crank pin 143 passing bottom dead center.

Thus it may be seen, that the cutting means of this invention is so adapted to intermittently cut the prefolded and secured continuous web of diaper material 12 into individually cut diapers 17 of predetermined lengths. The length of the diaper 17 will be determined by the speed of travel of the material through the cutting means and the size and speed of rotation of the cams 144 and 162.

From the cutting means of station 15, the individually cut diapers 1'7 are led to a stacking means or station 16. The stacking means 16 comprises a pair of conveyor belts 170 and 171, as shown in FIGURE 3. These conveyor belts 170 and 171 extend in the longitudinal direction of the travel of the diapers 17 and are disposed around a first pair of idler pulleys 172 and 173 mounted on the stationary frame 10. The other ends of the belts 170 and 171 are mounted on driven pulleys 174 and 1'75. The driven pulleys 174 and 175 are carried by a driven shaft 176 which is mounted in bearings 180 and 181 secured to the stationary frame 10. On one end of the shaft 176 is mounted a sprocket 182 which is driven by a chain 183. The chain 183 is disposed around and driven by a sprocket 184 disposed on the shaft 97, which is driven in the manner described above. The conveyor belts 170 and 171 are disposed against pivotally mounted plates 185 and 186. The plates 185 and 186 are pivotally mounted on the stationary frame at pivot points 200 and 201, as shown in FIGURE 4. The conveyor belts 170 and 171 are adapted to squeeze the longitudinal edges of the diapers 17 between these belts and the pivoted plates 185 and 186, respectively, to convey the diaper 17 forwardly from the cutting means 15.

The pivotally mounted plates 185 and 186 are held in their upward position, as illustrated in FIGURE 4, by rod members 202 and 203. These rod members 202 and 203 are fixedly carried by a connecting shaft 204 which are pivotally mounted to the stationary frame 10 by levers 205 and 206, as shown in FIGURES 4 and 8. The above assembly of levers 202, 203, connecting rod 204 and levers 205, 206 are mounted to a cam actuated lever 207 by a connecting member 208. The cam actuated lever 207 is guided into contact with a cam .210 through an aperture in an extension of the stationary frame '10, as may be seen in FIGURE 8. The cam 210 includes a detent 211 therein and is carried by and driven by the shaft 145 in the manner described above.

The stacking means 16 further includes a means for receiving the diaper 17 comprising downwardly extending chains 212, 213, 214 and 215. The chains 212 and 213, as shown in FIGURE 8, are disposed around a pair of idler sprockets 209, 216, respectively, which are carried by an idler shaft 217 mounted on the stationary frame 10. The other ends of the chains 212 and 213 are disposed around driven sprockets 218, 219, respectively, which are carried on a driven shaft 220 mounted in bearings on the stationary frame 10. The chains 212 and 213 carry a plurality of angle members 223 therebetween, as shown in FIGURE 8.

The chains 214 and 215 are also disposed around idler sprockets (not shown) and around driven sprockets 225 and 226, as shown in FIGURE 3, which are disposed on a driven shaft 227 secured in hearings on the stationary frame 10. The chains 214 and 215 also have a plurality of angle members 228 extending therebetween.

The angle members 223 and 228 are adapted to hold a shelf member 230, as shown in FIGURE 1, which is adapted to receive a plurality of prefolded diapers 17.

In operation, the cut diapers 17 are led forwardly in the stacking means by conveyor belts and 171 which squeeze the longitudinal edges of the diaper 17 between the belts and the pivotally mounted plates and 186, respectively. When an individually cut diaper reaches the forward end of the mechanism, the detent 211 in cam 210 has rotated in the direction of the arrow in FIG- URE 5 to such a point that the lever 207 will drop therein. When this action occurs, the lever 207 will move downwardly which will also lower the levers 202 and 203. This lowering of the levers 202 and 203 will allow the pivotally mounted plates 185 and 186 to move downwardly by the force of gravity and thereby release the individually cut diaper 17 which has been held between the plates and the conveyor belts. The diaper will then fall onto the shelf member 230.

The shelf member 230 is being lowered so that a plurality of diapers 17 may be stacked one on top of each other, as shown in FIGURE 1, as the chains 212, 213, 214 and 215 are driven by their respective sprockets and drive shafts. This downward movement of the shelf 230 is accomplished by a chain 233 which is driven by sprocket 234 disposed on the shaft 9 3, which shaft is driven in the manner described above. The chain 233 in turn drives a sprocket 235 mounted on a stud shaft 236. The stud shaft 236 has a gear 237 thereon which meshes with a gear 238 disposed on a driven shaft 239. The driven shaft 239 has a pair of worm gears 241 and 242 disposed on each end thereof. The worm gear 241 drives gear 243 (FIGURE 8) disposed on the end of driven shaft 220 and thus the shaft 220 is driven to rotate chains 2'12 and 213 to lower and raise the shelf member 230. Likewise the worm gear 242 meshes with a gear (not shown) mounted on the end of driven shaft 227 (FIG- URE 3) to rotate chains 214 and 215 to cooperate with the above described action to raise and lower the shelf member 230.

{From the above description, it may be seen that this invention has provided an automatic mechanism which will take an open width continuous web of diaper material from a supply roll, fold the diaper material into the desired prefold, secure the folded diaper material in the prefolded condition, cut the folded and secured diaper material into individually cut diapers, and stack the individually cut diapers into stacks for removal by an operator. This automatic machine eliminates many manual operations which require a number of operators and thus furnishes a method of automatic diaper production which saves time and expense to the manufacturer.

This invention has been described in detail above for purposes of illustration only and is not intended to be limited by this description or otherwise except as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

.1. A mechanism for automatically producing prefolded diapers comprising a frame portion, driven feeding means carried by said frame and adapted to feed the continuous web of diaper material through said mechanism, a supply means carried by said frame for supplying an open width continuous web of diaper material to said mechanism, folding means carried by said frame and disposed adjacent said supply means and adapted to fold the traveling continuous web of diaper material in the desired prefold along at least two fold lines to define a longitudinally extending multiple layer center panel and two side panels in the folded material, securing means carried by said frame and disposed adjacent said folding means comprising a pair of sewing means adapted to apply longitudinal lines of stitches through the multiple layer center panel of the folded diaper material for securing the traveling folded continuous web of diaper material in the desired prefolded condition, and cutting means carried by said frame and disposed adjacent said securing means for transversely cutting the traveling folded and secured continuous web of diaper material into individual diapers of a predetermined length.

2. A mechanism for automatically producing prefolded diapers, as set forth in claim 1, including a stacking means carried by said frame and disposed adjacent said cutting means and adapted to receive and stack the individually cut prefolded and secured diapers.

3. A mechanism for automatically producing prefolded diapers, as set forth in claim 1, in which said supply means includes a supply roll of open width diaper material carried by said frame for supplying a continuous web of diaper material to said mechanism, means carried by said frame for rotating said supply roll, and stop motion means carried by said frame and adapted to stop operation of said mechanism when said supply roll is exhausted.

4. A mechanism for automatically producing prefolded diapers, as set forth in claim 1, in which said folding means comprises a plurality of pairs of folding swords spaced from each other in the direction of travel of the web and mounted on said frame for folding the open width continuous web into the desired prefold.

5. A mechanism for automatically producing prefolded diapers, as set forth in claim 1, in which said securing means comprises a pair of sewing machines mounted on said frame and adapted to apply longitudinal lines of stitching in said folded diaper material adjacent the fold lines in the folded diaper material.

6. A mechanism for automatically producing prefolded diapers, as set forth in claim 5, in which said securing means further includes stop motion means mounted on said frame and adapted to stop operation of said mechanism when the lines of stitching have broken.

7. A mechanism for automatically producing prefolded diapers, as set forth in claim 1, in which said cutting means comprises a spring loaded, am operated, guillotine-type cutting mechanism carried by said frame for intermittently cutting the traveling folded and secured continuous web of diaper material into individual diapers of a predetermined length.

-8. A mechanism for automatically producing prefolded diapers comprising a frame portion, driven feeding means carried by said frame and adapted to feed the continuous web of diaper material through said mechanism, supply means comprising a supply roll of open width diaper material carried by said frame for supplying a continuous web of diaper material to said mechanism and means carried by said frame for rotating said supply roll, folding means disposed adjacent said supply means comprising a plurality of pairs of folding swords spaced from each other in the direction of travel of the web and mounted on said frame and adapted to fold the open width continuous web into the desired prefold along at least two fold lines to define a longitudinally extending multiple layer center panel and two side panels in the folded material, securing means disposed adjacent said folding means comprising a pair of sewing machines mounted on said frame and adapted to apply longitudinal lines of stitches through the multiple layer center panel in the folded diaper material, cutting means disposed adjacent said securing means comprising a spring loaded, cam operated, guillotine-type cutting mechanism carried by said frame for intermittently cutting the traveling, folded and secured continuous web of diaper material into individual diapers of a predetermined length, and stacking means carried by said frame and disposed adjacent said cutting means and adapted to receive and stack the individually cut prefolded and secured diapers.

9. A mechanism for automatically producing prefolded diapers, as set forth in claim 8, including first stop motion means carried by said frame and adapted to stop operation of said mechanism when said supply roll is exhausted, and second stop motion means carried by said frame and adapted to stop operation of said mechanism when the lines of stitching have broken.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,852,655 3/1932 Jensen et al. 270-94 2,313,433 3/1943 Golden 11210 2,940,404 6/1960 Damon 11210 3,009,433 11/1961 Kuhn 112-254 3,082,715 3/1963 Lofgren 112-2 3,126,657 3/1964 Hajos.

3,126,848 3/ 1964 Gastonguay 112-10 3,204,590 9/ 1965 Rockerath et al. 1l2-2 JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner. I. R. BOLER, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATICALLY PRODUCING PREFOLDED DIAPERS COMPRISING A FRAME PORTION, DRIVEN FEEDING MEANS CARRIED BY SAID FRAME AND ADAPTED TO FEED THE CONTINUOUS WEB OF DIAPER MATERIAL THROUGH SAID MECHANISM, A SUPPLY MEANS CARRIED BY SAID FRAME FOR SUPPLYING AN OPEN WIDTH CONTINUOUS WEB OF DIAPER MATERIAL TO SAID MECHANISM, FOLDING MEANS CARRIED BY SAID FRAME AND DISPOSED ADJACEN SAID SUPPLY MEANS AND ADAPTED TO FOLD THE TRAVELING CONTINUOUS WEB OF DIAPER MATERIAL IN THE DESIRED PREFOLD ALONG AT LEAST TWO FOLD LINES TO DEFINE A LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING MULTIPLE LAYER CENTER PANEL AND TWO SIDE PANELS IN THE FOLDED MATERIAL, SECURING MEANS CARRIED BY SAID FRAME AND DISPOSED ADJACENT SAID FOLDING MEANS COMPRISING A PAIR OF SEWING MEANS ADAPTED TO APPLY LONGITUDINAL LINES OF STITCHES THROUGH THE MULTIPLE LAYER CENTER PANEL OF THE FOLDED DIAPER MATERIAL FOR SECURING THE TRAVELING FOLDED CONTINUOUS WEB OF DIAPER MATERIAL IN THE DESIRED PREFOLDED CONDITION, AND CUTTING MEANS CARRIED BY SAID FRAME AND DISPOSED ADJACENT SAID SECURING MEANS FOR TRANSVERSELY CUTTING THE TRAVELING FOLDED AND SECURED CONTINUOUS WEB OF DIAPER MATERIAL INTO INDIVIDUAL DIAPERS OF A PREDETERMINED LENGTH. 